South Africa picks a
strong team for 2018
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

JOHANNESBURG South Africa (Xinhua)
--The South African Sports
Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) on Tuesday
announced a strong team to take part in the 2018 Gold
Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia.

The team was
announced at a press conference in Johannesburg. The
2018 Commonwealth Games will take place on April 4-15.
South Africa will compete in 16 sports, including
athletics, badminton, bowls, boxing, cycling, wrestling,
weightlifting and gymnastics. SASCOC president Gideon
Sam said they want to improve their performance from the
last games.

“You will
see that it’s a great blend of experience and raw talent
and I am confident we will once again be right up there
with the cream of Commonwealth countries and look to
improve on our seventh place on the medals table in
Glasgow four years ago. I urge every athlete to go to
Australia and be the very best athlete [they] can be and
fly the rainbow nation’s flag high,” Sam said.

The acting
SASCOC CEO, Patience Shikwambana expressed hope that
Team South Africa would do better at the 2018 Games. “I
believe we have a strong team with established stars who
have excelled exceptionally on the international arena
including at the renowned events such as the Olympics,
Paralympics and previous Commonwealth Games as well,”
Shikwambana said.

After South
Africa’s admission into the global sports family in
1994, the country has participated six times in the
Commonwealth Games. They have finished fifth on the
medals table on three occasions. That was in Kuala
Lumpur (Malaysia) in 1998, Melbourne (Australia) in 2006
and New Delhi (India) in 2010.

At the last
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, South Africa won 40
medals including 13 golds, 10 silvers and 17 bronzes.
“It is my hope that the team improves on the medals
count South Africa achieved in Glasgow in 2014 so that
we continue to progress in our performances and build a
stronger brand on the international front,” Shikwambana
said,

The Chef de
Mission and project manager of the team Ezera Tshabangu
said that for the first time the selection process had
been the tough one. According to Tshabangu, for the
first time the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) had a
hybrid selection process where some sports had open
selection processes while others had a specific criteria
set by them and the International Sports Federations.
“The High Performance Commission played a key role in
assessing every name put forward for consideration
before making recommendations to the board,” Tshabangu
said.